Australia celebrated a breakthrough performance at the World Athletics Relays, with their men’s relay squad demolishing a national record that had endured for more than four decades while earning a bronze medal.
The Australian team of Luke van Ratingen, Reece Holder, Thomas Reynolds and Aidan Murphy finished third in the men’s 4×400 metres with a time of 2:55.20 on Sunday at the Gaborone stadium. Their performance placed them behind host nation Botswana and South Africa, while elevating Australia to fourth place on the global all-time rankings.
The achievement surpassed their qualifying round time of 2:57.30, which had already demolished Australia’s previous national mark of 2:59.70 set during the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. Reynolds replaced Matthew Hunt for the final race.
“It was so surreal and such a vibe out there,” Holder said of the atmosphere.
“To come out and win a medal and do a time like that is pretty incredible.”
Australia’s men’s 4×100 relay squad narrowly missed the podium, placing fourth with a time of exactly 38 seconds. The team of Lachlan Kennedy, Joshua Azzopardi, Christopher Ius and Rohan Browning finished behind the United States, South Africa and Germany.
The sprint relay competed without two of Australia’s fastest sprinters, as rising star Gout Gout and California-based Eddie Nketia were absent from the competition.
“We wanted to make the final and came wanting a medal, so to get so close is disappointing,” Ius said.
“But to show the rest of the world what we can do is such a good thing, and I think we are improving every year which is exciting.”
Jamaica dominated the headlines by setting a world record in the mixed 4x100m relay, posting a remarkable 39.62 seconds after becoming the first country to break the 40-second barrier during qualifying rounds.
Despite the less flashy results, Australian track officials expressed satisfaction with their team’s achievements, which included securing qualification spots for six relay teams at next year’s world championships in Beijing.
“To have them all qualify was the first part of it but to also have some phenomenal performances, especially the men’s 4×400, was incredible, really,” high-performance director Andrew Faichney told Reuters on Monday.
Australia plans to use the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, scheduled for July 23-August 2, as preparation for the Beijing championships.
While 18-year-old Gout will skip Glasgow to concentrate on the under-20 world championships, Australian Athletics hopes to secure Nketia’s participation in the Commonwealth Games.
Although top Commonwealth athletes frequently bypass the multi-sport event, Australia prioritizes the competition and led the track and field medal count at both the 2022 Birmingham Games and the 2018 Gold Coast Games.
“We’ve got some awesome athletes who are doing so, so well. Hopefully we’ll be able to exceed what we’ve done in the past,” said Faichney.
